Israeli-founded app preloaded on Samsung phones is attracting controversy

Why do android phone companies load up the bloatware on their phones? Why can't they provide a plain vanilla version of android and let users to choose the stuff?

The same reason this happens/happened on Windows laptops. The hardware provider gets money to pre-install this software. They can then offer the phone at a lower price with a higher margin.

Supposedly the Pixel line of phones are pretty clean.

I think a lot of this might come down to carrier deals though.

Best bet I would imagine is to buy an Android device not through a carrier and make sure it has the necessary wireless modem bands